Invitation to the conference: Sustainable mass tourism - is it possible?

On 8 June 2022, the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE), together with the Tourism Agency Lübeck Bay (Tourismusagentur Lübecker Bucht, TALB), is organising a conference on environmental management and steering concepts in tourism.

Tourism in Germany and in many other regions of the world grew steadily until 2019. The fact that so many people are able to travel can certainly be seen as a benefit to society. However, the result is a phenomenon known as overtourism. Although the coronavirus pandemic has led to a slump in visitor numbers in international tourist hotspots, it has created completely new congestion hotspots due to domestic and day tourism. It is therefore more necessary than ever to practise consistent environmental management and develop control concepts. This means balancing visitor flows and managing them in such a way that environmental damage is minimised, the interests of local residents are respected and, last but not least, the quality of the visitor experience itself is safeguarded.

The conference is being organised by the Lübeck Bay Tourism Agency (TALB) and the Centre for Sustainable Tourism (Zentrum für Nachhaltigen Tourismus, ZENAT) at Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE). The aim is to present various approaches and concrete examples of visitor guidance in highly frequented tourism destinations in expert contributions, to discuss their strengths and weaknesses and to develop further solution strategies in an interactive format. The focus will be on the use of digital instruments in the context of sustainable development.

In the morning, speakers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland will present trends in the emergence of overtourism, the use of big data and the role of social media as well as case studies from beach, city and cruise destinations in a hybrid format. In the afternoon, conference participants can contribute their own topics in thematic workshops and discuss possible solutions in the local context. This part of the conference will only take place in person.

The conference is aimed at representatives of destination management organisations (DMOs), tourism communities, tourism associations, protected area organisations, transport operators, software developers and research institutions.

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